Acupuncture for the Elsberg Syndrome Secondary to Varicella-Zoster Virus Infection: a Case Report and Brief Review.

Elsberg syndrome (ES) is an infectious syndrome presenting with variable signs of acute lumbosacral radiculomyelitis. Its low recognition rate leads to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. Thus, some ES patients may develop neurological sequelae. This case described a 74-year-old woman complained of urinary retention, constipation, and sacral numbness after herpes zoster in the perianal area. She was diagnosed with ES and accepted conventional drug treatments and urethral catheterization. The treatment was ineffective; therefore, she accepted electroacupuncture six times and her symptoms completely disappeared, with no recurrence of neurological disorders during 1-year follow-up. This shows that acupuncture is a safe and effective alternative therapy for ES. Nonetheless, further prospective studies are necessary to prove its efficacy in ES.

Effects of Qihuang Needling on Motor Function for Patients With Parkinson's Disease: Study Protocol for a Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Although significant progress has been made in the pharmacologic management of Parkinson's Disease (PD), effective management of movement disorders is still a hurdle for therapeutics targeting PD. Acupuncture is one therapeutic option that could potentially improve the motor function of PD and is widely used as adjuvant therapy. Among the various acupuncture approaches, Qihuang Needling (QHN) therapy has been found to improve motor-function control for patients with PD. However, evidence regarding its efficacy remains scarce. Therefore, to address this need, this study will determine the effects of QHN therapy on motor function in patients with PD and compare it to placebo effects. Methods: This trial is a multicenter, prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. We randomly allocated 144 participants to two groups of 72 patients. Patients in the treatment group were treated with QHN therapy. The control group had undergone insertion of acupuncture needles at sham acupoints not corresponded to acupuncture points. Participants in the verum treatment group and sham-acupuncture control group received 9 sessions over 6 weeks followed by 8 weeks of follow-up. The primary outcome was the change of motor function from baseline to weeks 6 and 14 measured by the PD Rating Scale-Part III Motor Examination (UPDRS-III). Secondary outcome measures included the change of PD daily quality of life-39 (PDQ-39) and Non-Motor Symptoms Scale for PD (NMSS) from baseline to weeks 6 and 14. Discussion: The results of this trial will generate data to improve our general understanding of the efficacy of QHN therapy on motor function in patients with PD and thoroughly compare these responses to the placebo effect. Trial Registration: The trial was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (ChiCTR- 2000030871) on 16 March 2020.

Early intervention with acupuncture improves the outcome of patients with Bell's palsy: A propensity score-matching analysis.

Objective: Although acupuncture is widely used as a complementary therapy in the treatment of Bell's palsy (BP) when to initiate acupuncture is still controversial. This study aims to determine the efficacy of the early intervention by acupuncture on BP. Methods: We retrospectively gathered clinical data from the Third Affiliated Hospital of SUN-YAT SEN University between 2016 and 2021. We selected newly diagnosed patients with BP who were diagnosed by registered neurologists or acupuncturists formally. The qualified patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not initial acupuncture treatment was given within 7 days from the onset of palsy. Cohorts were balanced using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM). Cox proportional hazards modeling and Kaplan-Meier analysis were applied to determine the differences between the two groups. The outcome included time to complete recovery of facial function, the rate of complete recovery, and the occurrence of sequelae in 24 weeks. Results: A total of 345 patients were eligible for this study and were divided into the manual acupuncture/electroacupuncture (MA/EA) group (n = 76) and the EA group (n = 125). In the propensity score-matched cohort, the time to complete recovery was significantly shorter in the MA/EA group compared with the patients in the EA group (hazard ratio 1.505, 95% CI 1.028-2.404, p <0.05). The MA/EA group had a higher rate of favorable outcomes at 12 weeks than the EA group (93.4 vs. 80.3%, p = 0.032), and the occurrence of sequelae at 24 weeks showed a greater reducing trend in the MA/EA group than the EA group (6.6 vs. 16.4%, p = 0.088). Conclusion: Acupuncture intervention at the acute stage of BP could shorten the time to recovery and improve the outcome. Clinical trial registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR 2200058060.